


How To Own Your Owner With A Legal Contract: A Guide by Lee Taeyong

by aqua_vitae



Series: NCTHow: Best Self-Help Books of All Time [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Wrote this on a whim, Yuta likes cats, i dont know why it got a little more serious than planned at the end, just a light-hearted thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-19 19:46:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11904942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aqua_vitae/pseuds/aqua_vitae
Summary: The basic steps of setting up a lifelong trap





	How To Own Your Owner With A Legal Contract: A Guide by Lee Taeyong

**Author's Note:**

> This is a 'self-help book' that offers no help at all.

  Taeyong would say these few days Yuta is met with a considerably troublesome issue, which is he keeps bringing things home without any reasons or explanations.

 

  Taeyong comes home late again and rings the doorbell with his chin while holding the box with two hands. “Just in time,” Yuta says, “I was going to call you.”

  He opens the door to see Taeyong holding a brown paper box. “This is for you,” he says before Yuta can ask. He sets the box lightly down on the floor. “Open it,” he says, squatting down next to Yuta.

  Yuta glances at him weirdly. “It’s not my birthday or whatever,” he says, “Why’d you get me anything?”

  “It made me think of you,” Taeyong answers. “Go on, open it,” he prompts, his voice filled with a strange anticipation.

  Yuta lifts the lid of the box cautiously, balancing precariously on the balls of his feet. He almost falls when he sees a small living furball looking up at him with wide eyes. He gapes at the tiny ginger kitten, probably no larger than the palm of his hand. _It can’t weigh more than a melon_ , he thinks, then proceeds to ponder why he had tried to compare it with a fruit.

  He looks to Taeyong, who is looking back at him nervously, waiting for him to say something. "Why?" he asks.

  Taeyong is suddenly crestfallen. "Do you not like it?"

  "Yes," Yuta quickly answers when he sees Taeyong's disappointed face, "I mean, no! I like It! But why?"

  Taeyong lets out a sigh of relief and picks up the kitten from the bottom of the box. "I just thought of you." The orange ball of fur mewls softly when he places it in Yuta's cupped hands. "He's ten weeks old. Just weaned."

  He watches Yuta still gaping at the tiny kitten while cradling it close to his chest like he is afraid he's going to drop it anytime. "He's so small," Yuta breathes, his breath stirring its fur.

  A warm feeling builds up in his chest, and Taeyong pulls Yuta closer to kisses him on the cheek. "Love you," he says with a practiced ease. Yuta spares him one glance, nods in acknowledgment and turns his attention on the kitten now trying to climb up his shirt.

  "Why aren't you asking me why I didn't get a dog instead?"

  "Well then why didn't you get a dog?"

  "Because you like cats."

  "..."

 

* * *

 

  The next day Taeyong brings home another cat, and Yuta stares at him in shock. "What's the meaning of this?" he asks, but immediately reaches out to pet the silver tabby nestled in Taeyong's arms, holding the ginger kitten in his other hand.

  "Does he look enough like me?" Taeyong asks, not so subtly gesturing at his hair.

  "I —" Yuta stops short, sighing. "We now have two to take care of, and as much as I love cats, please don't bring any more home."

  "Okay," Taeyong says, dejected, "You were the one who said you wanted to live in a house full of cats."

  Yuta stops in his tracks, "I'm surprised you even remember that."

  "Oh, I remember everything about you."

  "Shut up." Yuta leaves Taeyong standing at the door, carrying his two furballs to the couch. Taeyong closes the door sadly and throws his jacket onto a chair.

  He paces around the house, finally stopping at the window. _What would it feel like if I fell down from this height?_ He thinks. "Yuta," he calls, and when he hums in reply, "If I died right now would you care?"

  "No." So this is what cold hard rejection feels like.

  Taeyong stops his one-man drama and plops down next to Yuta, watching him bait the kittens with his fingers and grinning when they nip at him. "You're going to make them think biting you is okay," he comments, lifting his heavy head off the back of the couch with difficulty.

  Yuta turns to him and frowns. "You look so ugly like that," he says, "Boneless animal." He grabs Taeyong by his hair and shoves a cushion under his head. Taeyong takes it as a gesture filled with affection even though it might not be and blows him a kiss.

  Yuta pretends to catch it and fling it onto the floor.

   _I love you_ , he mouths, amused by Yuta's antics.

  Yuta opens his mouth to say something scalding, but Taeyong sees him swallow his words. "I love you too," he says instead.

  "There's something wrong with you," he adds.

  "Hm?"

  "Why, really, did you get the kittens from Taeil's? You must have done something I don't know and are trying to make up for it," Yuta says.

  "Why do you think I must have an ulterior motive?"

  "People are like that."

 

* * *

 

  Taeyong has a day off, so he spends his time lounging on the sofa and letting the kittens climb over him without even blinking an eye. He only moves when he needs to use the toilet or when Yuta yells for him. Right now he is answering Yuta's call and dragging himself to their study while the ginger kitten pads lightly behind him. They named him Ginger, for obvious reasons, and the silver tabby Neko, because they didn't know what to call it and Neko is 'cat' in Japanese. Talk about laziness.

  He pokes his head into the room and sees Yuta hunched over his designs, "You needed me?"

  Yuta throws down the pencil in his hand frustratedly and rolls his chair towards him. "Hug," he says, stretching out his arms.

  Taeyong picks him up easily, Yuta weighing less than he looks like, and he pats his back and bounces him a little like a child. "Did that tire my baby out?" he asks gently, and Yuta hums in confirmation next to his ear, his voice thick and teary. Taeyong's heart constricts when he hears Yuta sniff. "It's going to be fine," he coaxes, "You can do it."

  Yuta pushes away from him and walks back over to his papers, and Taeyong follows him. "Taeyong look at this," he points angrily at the sketch, "It's so fucking ugly."

  "No, it looks fine," he tells him, and he really thinks it does. But Yuta will have none of that and lets out a shaky breath.

  "It doesn't," he counters, "I don't know what's wrong with me. I feel like I can't do anything properly." Taeyong threads his fingers into Yuta's hair, trying to calm him down. "Taeyong," he says, his voice breaking, "I'm so useless."

  " _Don't you say that_ ," Taeyong tells him forcefully, cupping his face with his hands, "You're anything but useless, look at all the things you've drawn, hitting the block once or twice doesn't mean you're not capable. I understand that you feel frustrated, but don't say that about yourself, okay?" Tears start to spill out of Yuta's eyes and Taeyong can't bear to listen to his sobs and little hiccups. He wipes Yuta's flushed cheeks with his fingers, but he can't keep up with the torrent. "No more of this for today," he tells him. "Let's go outside, we'll tidy this up later."

  Taeyong makes Yuta wait for him on the sofa and goes off mysteriously. When he comes back from the kitchen balancing a cake he bought yesterday he sees Yuta hugging his legs to his chest and tapping the kittens' heads with his finger. He sets the cake in front of him.

  "When did you buy this?"

  "Yesterday. Your favorite."

  Taeyong lights candles despite the day not being a special day and lets Yuta blow them out.

  They end up cuddling and watching TV all evening.

  "We had nothing to celebrate," Yuta says when they finish the rest of the cake.

  "I had something."

  "What?"

  "Your existence."

  Yuta stares at him and purses his lips.

  "There's definitely something up with you."

 

* * *

 

 During the weekend when Yuta leaves for a trip to the supermarket Taeyong sprints out of the house at record speed to the flower shop a few blocks away. When he arrives home with a bundle in his hands Yuta is already home, opening the door with a scowl. He is greeted by a bunch of roses in his face, and he stumbles back in shock.

 He watches with a horrified expression, frozen, as Taeyong enters the house and closes the door behind him. Taeyong heaves the bouquet in his hands and wriggles his eyebrows. Yuta's lip twitches.

 "What is the meaning of this — this absurdity?" He gestures at the roses, which had trouble entering the door. "We don't need this."

 "I bought it for you," Taeyong says, sensing Yuta's alarm. _Oh shit oh shit_ , he thinks, _Bad idea, abort, abort, abort_.

 "I don't want it," Yuta says, still staring horrified, "That's a bit too many."

 "I bought it for you," Taeyong says again, shoving it into Yuta's hands, "At least touch it before you make me throw them away."

 "Taeyong," Yuta says seriously, "You've got to stop these ideas. Or else someday you might bring a shark home and I won't know how to deal with that."

 "I thought this is very romantic."

 "I'm glad you don't now. Because this is going to be very hard to handle. I don't even know if I should throw it in the garbage or let it rot away."

 Taeyong sighs as Yuta deposits the bouquet onto the table. "Okay I'll be honest, I didn't know ninety-nine roses were that many."

 Yuta glares at him. "I didn't either. This is ridiculous." He gestures at the ginormous bundle. "It's as big as those standing sprays they put up in funerals."

 Taeyong hovers about with a dejected face while Yuta entertains the cats crawling across his lap. He gives a black look to the roses. _I knew it was a bad idea,_  he thinks (he didn't), _Yuta never liked flowers anyway_.

 Later in the night, he catches Yuta searching on the internet 'how to deal with 99 roses' and clicking his tongue in disapproval. He sidles up to Yuta and puts an arm around him. "My bad," he says.

 Yuta turns to him and blinks adorably. "I'm sorry," he says to Taeyong. He worries at his lip. "I know you meant well. I shouldn't have —"

 Taeyong shuts him up with a kiss, and Yuta whines, trying to pull back.

 "I'll bring something better home tomorrow."

 "Please don't."

 "Just wait and see."

 "I beg you."

 

* * *

 

  Taeyong paces around the room, knowing Yuta won't be able to hear him do that in the shower. The muffled sound of water messes with his brain and he is hopelessly nervous.

   _What if he doesn't like it? He shouldn't not like it. But he might not like it. What if he doesn't like the design? He's a designer he has high standards and I'm not exactly the smartest person._ He shakes his head to clear it of his thoughts and continues to overthink. Taeyong doesn't know how many times he has opened and closed this box in the past five minutes. Even the kittens curled up against each other on the bed are shooting looks at him as if to tell him that he is annoying. He suddenly envies them, and he squats down next to the bed so he is level with them.

  "You guys have a great life, you know?" They pay no attention to him and shift into a more comfortable position. "You don't have to worry about anything." He stops talking abruptly when the shower stops.  _Ohhhh fuck_ , he thinks,  _don't come out yet_. He scrambles for the box he had put down on the bedside table and runs to the door, waiting to intercept Yuta right as he opens it. He shuffles anxiously on his feet.

  Suddenly the door slides open and Yuta pokes his head out. "Tae — " he calls, and stops short when he sees Taeyong standing right in front of him. " — yong," he finishes weakly. Taeyong holds out the box in front of him. It is a wooden box, small and elaborate.

  "You look and see if you like this," he blabbers nervously, pushing it towards Yuta.

  "I forgot my shirt," he whispers apologetically, and from the crease between his brows, he knows what Taeyong is up to. At least he knows Taeyong is in the middle of something serious.

  Taeyong brings him his shirt, and waits for Yuta to get dressed. He sits on the bed, staring at the bathroom door and waiting for it to open again anytime. He inspects the wooden box again, he had bought it because he knows Yuta likes simple things, and he hates velvet.

  "Taeyong?" Yuta says tentatively, walking out with a towel draped over his head. Taeyong pats the space next to him and Yuta sits down, crossing his legs on the bed. He looks especially soft right now, straight out of the shower and dressed in a large white T-shirt.

  Taeyong swallows and steels himself. He pushes the box across to Yuta and waits for him to open it. "I promised to bring something better home today."

  He watches Yuta's mouth fall open slightly when he pushes off the lid, even though he had probably known what it is already. "Do you like it?" he asks, and without waiting for an answer, he continues, "Say 'yes' if you like it, and if — if you're willing to spend the rest of your life with me..." Taeyong shows Yuta his left hand, a silver ring on his fourth finger. He swallows again, his heart in his throat. "Then let's go get married."

  Yuta looks at him with an expression he cannot read, perhaps he is somewhat amazed, a little perplexed, or maybe he's touched and he's trying to hide it. "Yeah," Yuta says, his voice shaky, "Yes. Let's go get married."

  Taeyong looks at him fondly, his erratic heart trying to calm down. "I was afraid you didn't like it," he confesses, "I'm glad you like it. I'm glad you like me enough." Yuta lets out a short huff of laughter.

  Yuta starts stuttering uncontrollably, but still keeps on blabbering. "What did you mean if I like it? Of course I like it. How can I not like it?" His nose is red, tears flecking at the corner of his eyes. Taeyong can relate first hand. "I don't need a wedding," he tells Taeyong, "Let's just go sign the papers tomorrow."

  "Anything you want," Taeyong answers him. He picks up the ring from the box. "Because you've given me permission, so," He slips the band onto Yuta's ring finger, feeling the most self-satisfied he has ever felt in his life, "Now I own you."

  Yuta curls his fingers into Taeyong's, too overwhelmed to say anything else. Taeyong grabs him by the nape of his neck and pulls him close for a kiss. "We'll have to tell your parents," he says against his lips.

  Yuta pushes him back. "What about yours?"

  "They already know."

  "...What if I said no?"

  "Too bad, we'll never know." Taeyong sees the mischievous glint in Yuta's eyes and adds, "No backing out now." He pushes Yuta down on the bed and litters kisses all over his face, making Yuta squeeze his eyes shut.

  "I wasn't going to say this because I thought you'd think it's cheesy as hell if I said it now but, I love you," he says sincerely, hoping Yuta knows.

  Yuta opens his eyes slowly and touches the tip of Taeyong's nose with a finger. "I love you too," he says, "I mean, this  _is_ very cheesy but I can't put it any other way so: I love you too."

  "So much," Taeyong presses.

  "So much," Yuta agrees.

  "I'm really glad, Yuta," Taeyong says honestly, "I'm so happy you're mine."

  "You should have told me this is going to happen today," Yuta breathes, letting his head fall back onto the pillow and closing his eyes, "I wouldn't have been so unprepared."

  "Where's the fun if I tell you? And well, you looked calmer than you think." Taeyong doesn't tell him that his heart almost beat out of his chest.

  "I did breathing exercises in the bathroom."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, comments are much appreciated!


End file.
